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ISIL captures Syria’s ancient Palmyra

After fierce clashes on the northern edges of the city, the militant group entered the northern quarter 'without their vehicles' and seized a state security building.

A Syrian man carries a body after it was removed from the rubble of buildings following a reported barrel bomb attack by government forces on the Qadi Askar district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on May 20, 2015. The civil war in the country has claimed more than 220,000 lives since the conflict began in March 2011. Zein Al Rifai/AFP Photo

May 20, 2015

May 20, 2015

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BEIRUT // ISIL fighters took control of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday after fighting off pro-government forces, a UK-based monitor said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the militants had seized almost all of the city in another setback to efforts to repel their advances.

“The situation is very bad,” Syrian antiquities director Mamoun Abdulkarim said by telephone.

“If only five members of ISIL go into the ancient buildings, they’ll destroy everything,” he added, calling for international action to save the city.

Palmyra’s Unesco world heritage site ruins, including ancient temples and colonnaded streets, are in the city’s southwest.

Hundreds of statues and ancient artefacts from Palmyra’s museum have already been transferred out of the city, Mr Abdulkarim said.

However, many others – including massive tombs – could not be moved.

The UN agency Unesco called on Wednesday for an immediate halt to fighting at the ancient World Heritage site of Palmyra in Syria, urging the world to do everything it can to protect the population “and safeguard the unique cultural heritage”.

Syrian pro-government militia evacuated citizens from Palmyra on Wednesday after large groups of ISIL militants infiltrated it, state television reported.

It was the second time ISIL has overrun northern Palmyra, after it seized the same neighbourhoods on Saturday, but could not hold on to them for more than 24 hours.

After fierce clashes on the northern edges of the city, the militant group entered the northern quarter “without their vehicles”.

They seized a state security building and fanned out across northern districts as regime forces fled, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Observatory.

“People are very afraid of what will happen, because ISIL has the capability to get to the heart of Palmyra,” said Khaled Al Homsi, an activist in the city.

He said terrified residents were staying at home and that government forces were “on the defensive”.

Asked if ISIL would be able to reach the city’s ancient ruins, a Syrian military source said “everything is possible in urban warfare”.

He said the extremists had infiltrated northern neighbourhoods and said they were engaged in “street fighting” with regime forces.

Mohammad Hassan Homsi, another activist originally from Palmyra, said that “regime soldiers fled after ISIL took the state security building”.

“They headed to the military intelligence headquarters near the ruins,” he said.

Mr Homsi said ISIL militants from the flashpoint border town of Kobani, where US-led airstrikes helped Kurdish fighters defeat ISIL in January, were among those fighting in Palmyra. ISIL began its offensive on the ancient city on May 13, seizing a nearby town and two gas fields, and leaving more than 350 people dead.